Re: what is etymology? (linguistics and biology)


Ruud Harmsen wrote:
> 25 Jan 2006 23:12:11 -0800: "Franz Gnaedinger" <frgn@xxxxxxxxxxx>: in
> sci.lang:
>
> >The original of the Bible was written in Aramaic,
>
> Parts, but most in Hebrew, of Greek in the case of the New Testament.

and parts of the Christian OT are in Greek (though AFAIK some of the
Hebrew versions of these have been recovered) if you include what some
denominations call "Apocrypha"

>
> >there are no vowels, just consonants. An example in English: n th wtr.
>
> But note that in Arabic, and probably similarly in Hebrew, initial
> vowels ARE indicated (just not which vowel it is, but its presence can

no, it is the intial glottal stop that is indicated (in arabic and
biblical hebrew, as PTD has indicated).

> be seen), and that long vowels are indicated too. That makes examples

except for a handful of words, long vowels are consistently indicated
in arabic. but biblical hebrew does not consistently indicate
etymological long vowels. many of those indicated turn out to be from
diphthongs from an earlier stage.

but it is true that arabic underwent an orthographic reform,
traditionaly attributed to the time of Abdulmalik to get to the current
state.

> in a language like English difficult to get accurate.
>

BTW a language very close to English, Afrikaans, was written in arabic
based script, and the first writting done in Afrikaans was done in this
script by Cape Malays. the Boers at that time still writing in Church
Dutch.

a not so insignificant amount of arabic based (Urdu) script writing of
English is done by Pakistanis (esp. immigrant comminities) for short
notices and signs.

> >How do you read this? There are two possibilities: in the water,
> >on the water. A similar thing occured when the lost originals
> >of the Gospels were translated into Greek. An Aramaic word
> >consisting of one single consonant - just now I don't remember
> >which one - can be linked with two vowels, and then means
> >either toward, or on. Jesus walked toward the lake, Jesus
> >walked on the lake. The second version is more appealing
> >and mysterious, and voilà, there was another wonder ...
>
> --
> Ruud Harmsen - http://rudhar.com

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Pronunciation of "Amen"
    ... Now it's borrowed by English ... who is to say how Aramaic or Hebrew was pronounced ... > I asserted in my earlier post that "amen" was a Greek loanword. ... > to the Greek language what the OED is to the English language. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Pronunciation of "Amen"
    ... Now it's borrowed by English ... who is to say how Aramaic or Hebrew was pronounced ... >I asserted in my earlier post that "amen" was a Greek loanword. ... >to the Greek language what the OED is to the English language. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Pronunciation of "Amen"
    ... Now it's borrowed by English ... who is to say how Aramaic or Hebrew was pronounced ... I asserted in my earlier post that "amen" was a Greek loanword. ... to the Greek language what the OED is to the English language. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: "Shlepp" and other Hebrew words in the English Language
    ... It is a very alien-looking word - but so are most Hebrew words. ... The English Celtic language was swept away by the Romans, ... who gave us the Germanic language we now use. ... injected a healthy dose of Ancient Greek into the mix. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Mark of the Beast software
    ... The number of the Beast isn't in English, Hebrew, Greek or Latin. ...
    (alt.religion.christian)